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<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re chasing specific fitness results, you may wonder whether working out twice a day will help you achieve them twice as fast. Once a relic of high school sports training, two-a-day workouts are now all over social media and are even included in some popular lifestyle programs. But should two-a-days be part of your workout routine? Does working out twice a day double the payoff or double the risk?<\/p>\n
When it comes to the advantages of two-a-day workouts, \u201cthere really aren\u2019t any unless you\u2019re an elite athlete,\u201d says Trevor Thieme, CSCS. \u201cIf you have enough gas in the tank to tackle two daily workouts, you likely aren\u2019t going hard enough in either one to optimize your progress toward your goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
To be clear, that doesn\u2019t mean that you should never work out more than once a day. \u201cIf you\u2019re too busy to complete your whole workout all at once on some days, go ahead and split it up,\u201d Thieme says.<\/p>\n
You can also perform some moderate-intensity cardio on the same day as strength training, or vice versa \u2014 though you\u2019d probably be better off doing them on different days altogether if you\u2019re serious about endurance and\/or strength gains.<\/p>\n
But \u201cdivide and conquer\u201d isn\u2019t your only option when you\u2019re pressed for time. \u201cYou should also consider doing a higher-intensity, shorter workout rather than a longer one split into two parts,\u201d Thieme suggests. \u201cWhen you get right down to it, workout density trumps workout duration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unless you\u2019re splitting one workout into two parts to accommodate your schedule, working out twice a day is more likely to hold back your progress than hasten it.<\/p>\n
In order to adapt to the training stimuli provided by your workouts, your body needs sufficient time to\u00a0recover between them. \u201cPushing yourself too hard too often can put you on the fast track to overtraining,\u201d warns Thieme. \u201cThat can not only land you in a training rut, but also increase your risk of injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burnout caused by overtraining will include a decrease in your performance during workouts. What\u2019s worse, the effects of overtraining can spill into your everyday life, and include mood swings, insomnia, and loss of appetite.<\/p>\n
Building muscle mass is a process of creating micro-damage in your muscles, which triggers repair and adaptation processes that leave you stronger and fitter than before. But\u00a0overtraining impedes\u00a0muscle repair, recovery, and growth. If you\u2019re not building muscle effectively, you\u2019ll have a more challenging time reaching your goals.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In general, it\u2019s not advised for beginners to work out twice a day. \u201cThere\u2019s almost no reason to do two-a-days,\u201d says Thieme. \u201cBesides, most people have trouble finding time to do one workout a day, let alone two.\u201d<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re just starting out, focus on being consistent, not overzealous. Adding a second workout to your day can actually hinder your goals.<\/p>\n
Thieme explains that beginners are at the same risk of overtraining as everyone else. That\u2019s because overtraining \u201coccurs when you push yourself too hard, too often for your fitness level, whatever that fitness level is. No matter what your fitness level is, overtraining will put the brakes on your gains and increase your risk of injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to fitness, more isn\u2019t necessarily better,\u201d says Thieme. Instead of working out twice a day, consider the following training ideas, so you can train smarter, not harder, to achieve your goals faster.<\/p>\n
How long you work out is far less important than how you work out. \u201cAs long as your workouts are aligned with your fitness objectives and you challenge yourself multiple times a week, you will reach your goals,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Rest days are just as important as your workouts, and you should prioritize them. Even if you\u2019re already taking rest days from the gym, you should watch for signs of overtraining like increased fatigue, sleeplessness, reduced athletic performance, mood changes, and a decline in motivation.<\/p>\n
If you notice any of these symptoms, it\u2019s time to dial back your training volume and intensity and dial in your post-workout recovery until your performance is back on track.<\/p>\n
A daily workout doesn\u2019t counterbalance an otherwise sedentary lifestyle. That\u2019s why it\u2019s essential to become more active in general.<\/p>\n
\u201cFocus on increasing your non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), which is all of the calories you burn throughout the day outside of exercise,\u201d says Thieme. \u201cIf your goal is weight loss, or even if it\u2019s just being healthier overall, you need to give NEAT just as much attention as working out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019re chasing specific fitness results, you may wonder whether working out twice a day will help you achieve them twice as fast. Once a relic of high school sports training, two-a-day workouts are now all over social media and are even included in some popular lifestyle programs. But should two-a-days be part of your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[111,163,187],"class_list":["post-2910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-ladder","tag-strength-training","tag-weightlifting"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}